1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to cannulas, and in particular to a cannula with two distinct channels, one dedicated to the removal of material from a subdermal region and one dedicated to the injection of fluid into the subdermal region whereby the removal and the injection can occur simultaneously.
2. Description of Related Art
Lipectomy is a medical procedure in which fat is removed from a patient using a long cannula connected to a syringe or vacuum pump. Originally, the procedure was performed "dry," in that no fluid was introduced into the targeted area prior to removal of the fat. More recently, doctors have realized that swelling and post-surgery pain can be reduced by initially introducing certain fluids into the region prior to the removal of the fat. The fluids can help break up the fat, making removal easier, and can also deliver anesthetic to the targeted region. This heretofore has been accomplished in two separate steps, the first step being the injection of fluid into the patient and then a second step of removing the fluid and fat from the targeted area. However, the difficulty in this process is that the patient is subjected to multiple injections, and also the fluid is not adequately dispersed in the targeted area. Moreover, the removal of the fat can be a task which requires significant movement of the cannula back and forth as the doctor attempts to reach all parts of the targeted area. The motion of the cannula back and forth often causes trauma to the area such as bruising, which results in a longer recovery period.
What the prior art lacks is a cannula which would permit both fat withdrawal and fluid injection simultaneously, limiting the number of injections that the patient is subjected to while ensuring adequate dispersal of the injected fluid into the targeted region. Ideally, the injection point of the fluid would coincide with the entrance to the channel through which the fat is removed so that the area subjected to the fat removal is guaranteed to also receive adequate exposure to the fluid.